Buckeye 2015 posted:With regard to "gaining ground toward the base"....my son's team played a team in the District finals 2 years ago. RHP would come set, then just do a quick jump turn and throw to first....absolutely no ground gained....but never once called a balk....even when he did it so quick that he kind of stumbled off the mound TO THE THIRD BASE SIDE!!! Crazy thing is, the game ended on a bases loaded balk on our pitcher. We watched the video replay 1000 times and there was no balk of any kind. Oh, and before anyone says "take the class, be an umpire", I'm going this winter after having considered it for the past 20 years.......should be interesting lol
As you describe it, what the opposing pitcher did is not a balk...and here's why:
A jump turn is considered a move from the rubber. That being said, once the turn is initiated, the intent of the pitcher is clear and anything that would result in a balk would be disadvantageous to him. This is where that clause about "intent to deceive" comes in...if he doesn't gain ground to first, yeah, it's technically a balk, but he actually puts himself at a disadvantage and there is no additional deception (the runner knows he's throwing to first.) That clause is for us NOT to call illegal acts if there is no advantage intended or gained.
As for the game-ending balk, obviously we have no way of knowing.